First Impressions or How Not to Make Them
by Miss Maggie
Summary: Tidus isn't sure how the whole making a good first impression business is supposed to go.


Tidus was pretty damn miserable. Sure, there was the whole dream business to worry about, and the world was saved, which would generally be considered a Good Thing. Except now here he was stuck in the Farplane, dead but not really dead. Close enough, right?

His father had ditched him hours ago, yelling something about needing to practice blitzball and not letting his crybaby of a boy get the better of him in the game they were going to have next week. Auron had silently slunk after Jecht, probably to make sure the latter didn't do anything too stupid while he was getting acclimated to the Farplane.

And that left Tidus all alone. He had cried a little earlier, feeling more than a little haunted by the look he saw on Yuna's face as she fell through him onto the floor of the airship. She looked so lifeless, like a doll, with the pyreflies swarming around her. Tidus wanted to hug her, kiss her, anything. Instead, he did the best he could, a sort of half-hold, before jumping into the Farplane with his father and Auron.

Tidus had to admit it had been nice seeing his father again, understanding his father for the first time in pretty much his own life. But what he wanted most right now was to be with Yuna. She was home to him, he realized. And yeah, he felt kind of lame admitting that to himself, but love was supposedly good for making people say stupid stuff. Although, Tidus had to admit to himself he did manage to say a lot of stupid stuff when love probably wouldn't be an applicable excuse.

"You know, you can see her if you want," a voice said from behind Tidus.

Tidus jumped about a mile into the sky. "Hey! What? Who? What now and who are you?" he managed to stammer out.

"Yuna," replied the voice again. He stepped out to reveal himself to Tidus. "You know how people think of us while they're visiting the Farplane and they see us? Well, it sort of works in the opposite way."

"Whoa, who are you?" asked Tidus, who raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh! My apologies, I'm Braska," replied the man. "I saw how you and your friends defeated Sin once and for all. I am grateful."

Something told Tidus the name Braska should be familiar to him, but he brushed those thoughts aside in favor of being miserable about Yuna, something he could do much more easily.

"Well, at least Yuna didn't die," admitted Tidus. "I'm glad I was able to save her. At first I kind of went along with her pilgrimage because she was really hot, but she's also really sweet, and she tries so hard to take care of everyone else. And she sometimes forgets to take care of herself. So we all had to watch out for her. But I hope she's all right, you know? And I hope…" his voice trailed off, tears threatening to cloud his vision again.

"I owe you a great debt for saving my daughter's life," admitted Braska. "Thank you."

Tidus immediately flushed upon hearing Braska's last comment. "Um. You're that Braska! Oh! But you're not wearing the dress like you were in the spheres and I'm sorry I called Yuna hot. But she is hot, so I didn't really lie. And I guess your summoner's robe isn't a dress. But it looks like one," he said, each sentence coming out more quickly than the one before it. "Uh. Can I start over?"

Braska gave Tidus a wide smile. "You're a lot like your father," he said, nodding. "Okay, start over."

"Hi, I'm Tidus," he said, with a very embarrassed smile. He rubbed his hand behind his head nervously. "I'm kind of in love with your daughter. I know you're kind of supposed to hate the first guy your daughter loves, and I'm probably making a really bad impression here, but can you like, not kill me? Or kill me again, however it works in Farplane-speak?"

Braska laughed this time, and it reminded Tidus a lot of Yuna's real laughs. Not the forced, awkward ones in Luca, but her genuine laughter. "I think you're fine. All any father wants is to see his daughter happy."

"But she's not," said Tidus. "I'm here and she's there and I hated doing it to her, but the fayth said that they needed to stop dreaming, and I promised! I promised her!"

"Come with me, Tidus," replied Braska. He leaned over and put a reassuring arm around Tidus's shoulder before speaking again. "And please don't start crying again. Otherwise I'll have to find my rowboat and paddle to get us out of here."

Tidus managed a small smile. "Where to?"

"Well, first, I'd like you to meet my wife! Maybe you can make a better impression on her," said Braska. He leaned over to whisper near Tidus's ear. "And be a dear and don't mention the Macalania Spring bit to her yet, okay? I love my wife, but she doesn't need to know about that just yet."

Tidus turned about six shades of red. "Yes, yes, sir."

"And then maybe I'll show you how to watch over Yuna in Spira," continued Braska, who was completely ignoring Tidus's tomato-red face. "I hear she's giving a speech in Luca today, and we're all going to watch, of course!"

Tidus nodded.

Braska continued, "And I suspect you'll want to stay with your father. But I wouldn't get too comfortable here, Tidus. My daughter is a crafty one. I doubt you'll be staying here with us very long."

"If you say so, sir," said Tidus.

"Braska, please. You've made out with my daughter. I think we can be on a first-name basis, wouldn't you say so?" he asked.

"Um, sure," said Tidus, who was sure the blush had spread everywhere on his body by now. "Braska."

"Great!" said Braska, who continued to steamroll over Tidus. "Now, let's go meet my wife. And while we're waiting for Yuna's speech, I can tell you about the time when she was five and I made noodles. But Yuna decided the noodles would make better headgear than dinner!"

Tidus made a silent plea for Yuna to rescue him soon as he found himself being led away by Braska. Really soon.


End file.
